Tag: Jomary Torres

Malaysia and the Philippines were among the countries represented at the ONE Championship event titled “ONE: Masters of Destiny” on July 12, 2019. The fight card featured mixed martial arts matches as well as ONE Super Series contests including Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts.

China and the Philippines were two of the 21 countries represented at “ONE: Reign of Valor,” the first ONE Championship event in 2019 held in Myanmar. The Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion held it at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on March 8, 2019.

“ONE: Reign of Valor” featured nine MMA matches and five ONE Super Series contests, which are kickboxing bouts. In the fifth bout of the evening, “MMA Sister” Lin Heqin, 25, of China faced Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres, 23, of the Philippines.

Lin was one of the two fighters who represented China at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” Torres was one of the two representatives of the Philippines.

Blue Corner

Hailing from Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines, Torres moved to the capital of her home country where she eventually started her training in martial arts. Training out of Catalan Fighting System, she made her professional MMA debut in 2016.

Torres won her first three bouts in ONE Championship but lost both the fourth and fifth ones. “ONE: Reign of Valor” marked her sixth outing in the promotion.

Red Corner

Lin started her training in sanda when she was young. In 2015, she retired as a competitive sanda fighter and made her professional MMA debut.

Training out of Hasheng MMA, Lin made her ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” She previously competed in Road Fighting Championship and Kunlun Fight MMA.

Fight Result

Lin and Torres competed in an MMA match in the atomweight division. Olivier Coste served as the referee.

Coste put a stop to the contest after 4 minutes and 12 seconds in the first round. Lin submitted Torres via triangle choke.

Winning at “ONE: Reign of Valor” improved Lin’s professional MMA record to 9 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. On the other hand, Torres now has 4 wins and 3 losses.

“ONE: Reign of Valor” Main Events

Phoe “Bushido” Thaw, 34, of Myanmar faced “The Iceman” Yohan Mulia Legowo, 38, of Indonesia in the co-main event. The Burmese contender knocked out his Indonesian opponent in the second round.

While all of the Filipino champions are scheduled in ONE: A NEW ERA, there are still plenty of reasons for local martial arts from the Philippines to tune-in and enjoy another loaded match card.

Here are just three main reasons why ONE: REIGN OF VALOR is a must-see.

Rene Catalan’s path to desired ONE World Title shot

Rene “The Challenger” Catalan’s amazing run in the talent-filled strawweight division is something that cannot be overlooked anymore.

After losing his first two matches in ONE Championship, Catalan finally found his rhythm and is now riding high on a five-match winning streak.

Standing in his way is former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito, who undoubtedly poses to be the ultimate test to Catalan’s World Title aspirations.

It will be a classic striker-versus-grappler affair, but Catalan has shown tremendous improvement when it comes to grappling in his previous matches.

At age 40, Catalan shows no signs of slowing down, and if he keeps his pace, then the next Filipino World Champion could very well come from the Catalan Fighting System.

Road to redemption of Jomary Torres

Jomary Torres is an exciting young Filipina who burst into the organization’s stacked women’s atomweight scene with three consecutive victories.

She may be on a slump as of late following consecutive decision losses to Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaul and Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi, but those define does not ultimately define her as a mixed martial arts competitor.

Admittedly struggling to ankle issues in her past bouts, Torres has completed her training camp in tip-top condition and is raring to go back to her winning ways.

Given that her back is against the wall, Torres vows to be aggressive as she cannot afford to lose her third-straight match.

While her opponent in Lin Heqin is known for her willingness to stand and trade, this match has the potential to steal the whole show.

Zebaztian Kadestam’s first ONE World Title defense

Headlining the blockbuster event is knockout artist Zebaztian Kadestam as he defends his ONE Welterweight World Title against surging submission wizard Georgiy Kichigin, who is coming into ONE Championship on 14-match winning streak with his last victory coming against another submission artist in Rousimar Palhares. With World Title gold on the line, the stakes could not be higher in this classic clash of styles.

Kadestam trained out of Legacy Gym in Boracay, Aklan, Philippines under the tutelage of decorated kickboxer Ole Laursen from 2012 to 2017. On November 17, 2018, Kadestam put everyone on notice when he knocked out previously unbeaten American fighter Tyler McGuire to be crowned as the ONE Welterweight World Champion.

The win over McGuire was Kadestam’s ninth knockout victory. This made the Swedish champ one of the most fearsome competitors in the whole organization.

With two world-class talents bannering the card, there is no reason for Filipino martial arts fans to miss this event. Meanwhile, here is a clip from the “ONE: Reign of Valor” open workout:

For Catalan Fighting System head coach Rene “The Challenger” Catalan, his student Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres needs to step up more than ever. Having absorbed consecutive decision losses in her last two outings, she takes on China’s Lin Heqin at “ONE: Reign of Valor” on March 8, 2019 at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.

Catalan knows how damaging a third-straight loss would be for his ward. He hopes to see the Torres of old, the one who won three consecutive matches to open her campaign in ONE Championship.

“She has to be explosive and impressive in her upcoming fight,” Catalan said of Torres. “We cannot afford to have a third consecutive defeat.”

Torres suffered decision losses to Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol and former ONE World Title contender Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi to end 2018. But if there is one reason to be hopeful for Catalan, it is the fact that they are going to finish this training camp seamlessly without any hiccups, major or minor.

According to Catalan, Torres had to prepare with ankle issues in the past, something that they finally avoided for this contest. He shared, “Our training went well this time around unlike her last couple of fights when she had problems with her ankle.”

Now that Catalan was successful in preparing Torres physically, he will have to focus on getting her confidence back. It is not easy, especially coming from consecutive losses, but he was happy to see that her head is in the right place heading into this critical match-up.

“I told her to take those losses as a learning experience and that we must properly execute our game plan moving forward,” Catalan said. “She was in high spirits even after losing. Everything I tell her she absorbs.”

“We might go for a stoppage in this fight,” Catalan added. “We are prepared to do everything. We already have a game plan that only needs to be followed.”

Japan and the Philippines were among the 16 countries represented at “ONE: Destiny of Champions” on December 7, 2018. The fight card featured seven mixed martial arts matches and four Muay Thai contests.

ONE Championship held “ONE: Destiny of Champions” at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the third bout of the evening, Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi, 35, of Tokyo, Japan faced Jomary “The Zamboanganian Fighter” Torres, 22, of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines.

Blue Corner

Currently, Torres sharpens her skills under the watchful eye of Rene “The Challenger” Catalan, 39, of Iloilo, Philippines. The latter is a famed Wushu World Champion and a ONE Championship veteran.

Torres was riding a wave of momentum, having railed off four straight wins to start off her career, including three inside the ONE Championship cage. Though her latest outing resulted in a minor setback, she was determined to reestablish herself as one of the top competitors in the women’s atomweight division.

“ONE: Destiny of Champions” marked the Zamboanga del Norte native’s fourth bout in ONE Championship. She was the only Filipino on the card.

Red Corner

Born in Tokyo, Yamaguchi started learning karate at the age of six because she wanted to be like action star Jackie Chan. She went to school in Los Angeles, California, United States and growing up, she divided her time between Japan and the U.S.

In 2009, Yamaguchi won a four-woman tournament to become the Valkyrie Featherweight Champion. In 2015, she claimed the second championship of her veteran career, beating three tough opponents to win the DEEP Jewels Featherweight Grand Prix and the belt.

Including Yamaguchi, who is training out of Riki Gym, Gods and Hybrid Fighter, there were three Japanese athletes on the “ONE: Destiny of Champions” card. The other two were Yuki “Yu-King” Niimura, 35, and Yosuke “Tabizaru” Saruta, 31, of Saitama, Japan.

Fight Result

Yamaguchi and Torres competed in an MMA bout in the women’s atomweight division. After three five-minute rounds, the contest was left in the hands of the judges.

In the end, referee Olivier Coste raised the hand of Yamaguchi, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision. It was the Japanese fighter’s third victory in ONE Championship.

Winning at “ONE: Destiny of Champions” improved’s Yamaguchi’s professional MMA record to 18 wins and 11 losses. On the other hand, Torres now has 4 wins and 2 losses.

“ONE: Destiny of Champions” Main Events

In the co-main event of the evening, Agilan “Alligator” Thani, 23, of Malaysia and Kiamrian Abbasov, 25, of Kyrgyzstan competed in an MMA match in the welterweight division. The Kyrgyzstani contender submitted his Malaysian opponent via rear-naked choke in the first round.

In the main event, Yodsanklai “The Hero” IWE Fairtex, 32, of Thailand took on Luis “Macaco” Regis, 33, of Australia in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai contest. The Thai contender knocked out is Australian opponent in the first round.

Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Greece, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the U.S. were also represented at “ONE: Destiny of Champions.” Check the complete results on Conan Daily.